Allie Ostrander
Six days after a vertical-heavy mountain race at altitude she called the hardest race of her career, Alaska’s Allie Ostrander on Friday delivered a much better result in another long grinder at altitude.
Ostander, 26, who grew up in Soldotna and lives in Seattle, finished ninth among women in the Mammoth Lakes 26K (16.1 miles), a looped-course event in California that featured about 4,000 feet of vertical gain and topped out at just above 11,000 feet elevation.
Ostrander finished in 2 hours, 27 minutes, 51 seconds, and finished 42nd overall among more than 500 racers in an event that is part of the Golden Trail World Series. Ostander locked into ninth place early and stayed there – through all four checkpoints and across the finish line. Judith Wyder of Chechia won the women’s race in 2:18:21.
Ostrander’s performance came after she finished 20th among women at the torturous Pikes Peak Ascent in Colorado on Sept. 16. That punisher covered 13.3 miles, featured double the vertical gain of Friday’s race at nearly 8,000 feet, and finished at more than 14,000 feet elevation. On her YouTube channel, Ostrander called it the most difficult race of her life — so hard, on a day when she didn’t feel sharp, that she was proud she did not drop out.
Ostander, who is sponsored by outdoor manufacturer Nnormal, was a three-time NCAA steeplechase champion at Boise State and competed in that event at the 2019 World Championships. She’s a former women’s winner on Mount Marathon and won a record six straight junior girls Mount Marathon titles.
Friday’s ninth place earned her $400.
Among other Alaskans, Ostander’s sister Taylor Ostrander Deal, 29, finished 24th among women in 2:50:31. Taylor is a former college steeplechaser.
Ali Papillon, 18, the former Mount Marathon junior boys champ whose family splits time between Colorado and Alaska, finished 16th among men in 2:16:31. He was three spots ahead of 19th-place finisher Max King, 43, of Bend, Ore., who is a two-time Mount Marathon winner, and clocked 2:19:21. Papillon’s brother, Bodhi Gross, 22, finished 24th among men in 2:22:38.
A couple of other Mount Marathon men’s notables from Outside clocked Top 15 finishes Friday. Sam Hendry, 24, of Salt Lake City, who was runner-up at Mount Marathon in 2021, finished fifth in 2:00:25. And Darren Thomas, 29, of Reno, who finished third in the 2021 Mount Marathon – race record-holder David Norris won the third of his four Mount Marathon crowns that year – took 15th in 2:09:34.